Malik Willis came to Miami knowing that the situation was – a rebuild.
And rebuilds are tough. They are tough on teams, organizations, players and fans, but the Dolphins had no choice but to, once again, tear it down and start from scratch.
But this time it was different.
Gone was general manager Chris Grier, who survived numerous rebuilds and organizational reshuffling, mystically keeping his job while everyone else was held accountable for underperforming.
With Grier officially out, the Dolphins could embark on an all-in approach to a rebuild.
With a new front office, a new quarterback was brought in to help usher in the new era of football for the Dolphins in the form of former Tennessee Titans and Green Bay Packers quarterback Malik Willis.
Willis had accumulated a handful of starts during his first few seasons in the NFL, enough that Miami felt he was a potential answer at the quarterback position, and at worst a stopgap solution until they drafted their quarterback of the future.
A 0-4 start to the season will allow frustration to bubble up, and that frustration will force the spotlight of scrutiny to shine brighter on the performances of players, with Willis front and center.
Willis hasn’t done much to show that he is the franchise quarterback Miami is seeking, having completed just 56.3% of his passes for 712 yards with one touchdown and one interception adding 112 yards on the ground and another score.
While Willis is giving fans the mobility and dual-threat play that Dolphins fans have begged for following the lackluster tenure of Tua Tagovailoa, the overall play leaves a lot to be desired.
“I mean, speaking of holding myself to the level of accountability I try to, it’s not good enough,” Willis said earlier this week (h/t MSN). “We don’t have any wins yet, obviously. We can’t keep blaming stuff on us being young and still everybody being new, like that’s not a factor once the season starts. Yeah, that’s cool to say in theoffseason when we’re building and growing, but I think we’ve done a great job continuing to grow each week.
“I think we look like a way better team than we did when we went out against the Raiders. I think that we went a little bit backwards last week during the Vikings game. I think we have to continue to improve and stay on that path upwards. Yes, it’s okay to make mistakes, but we have to fix those mistakes and be able to continue to grow in these situations that we find ourselves in.”
While Willis has certainly shown he is a more than capable leader, the results need to show up on the field especially as fans and analysts are already mocking up the Dolphins plans to address the starting quarterback situation
Malik Willis Says He Hasn’t Been ‘Good Enough’ This Season for Dolphins